cooking classes

This post finds me a little out of order. You see, I should be telling you that my cooking classes are about to feature on Channel 7′s Queensland Weekender, and instead, I’m telling you that they did. On Saturday night! Sorry about the tardiness but I’ve had a very full week! My pickled ginger and asian coleslaw featured in the shoot, as did 6 of my loveliest students. Thanks, again, for being stars. Thank you also, dear Audrey, for the photos, and Ashleigh Frater and Alastair McLeod for the opportunity. If you missed our 5 minutes of fame (and me [...]

Cooking under pressure has become my latest fixation. I’m in love with my yellow cooker. the noise of its vent closing down, the silence of perfect pressure, the whoosh as I run cold water over its lid, encouraging release. I’ve been making risottos from carnaroli rice and whole barley, meat stocks ready in an hour, smoky baked beans with ham hocks, and heavenly braises with shanks and tails. Come see what this love tastes like on Saturday, or stay tuned here, for many pressure cooker experiments to come. xx

The westerlies have arrived, I’ve fallen in love with my hot water bottle and I’m fantasising about chocolate soup (and chocolate cookies, choc marble cheesecake, chocolate self saucing pudding, chocolate babka…) at quite inappropriate times. Winter must be here! This means a whole new set of cooking classes to make the most of this too-short cold season of ours. There’s a spicy pickle class, a marmalade and fruit butter class, a tofu and tempeh class (of course- it just keeps filling!), a pressure cooker class, a meat stock class and a vegetable stock class. Feel wintery enough to you? If you like hearing about [...]

Hi everyone, there’s just a couple of spots left in this Saturday’s cooking class at Taste. In this class – the first in a series offered in 2012 celebrating authentic vegetarian dishes – we’ll make tofu from scratch (a tofu that will blow all other beancurds out of their slightly rancid water baths!), we’ll experiment with the fermented delights of tempeh, and we’ll use both tofu and tempeh in a series of dishes direct from the soybean masters (Indonesia and the Sichuan Provence). For more details, see my cooking classes page. (And if you want to know if my classes are any [...]

Who’dda thought tofu and tempeh were so in demand? I certainly didn’t, but I’m chuffed that there’s so many people out there wanting to learn more about these important soy bean products. The 11th February class is now sold out, so I’ve got another one planned for April 21st. See the Cooking Class page for more details. In these introductory classes, there’s enough time to make tofu from scratch, but making tempeh is more involved. So, I’ve created a class dedicated to the task. It’s on April 28th, and will be completely hands on, so you’re sure to take the [...]

I’ve been meaning to update this basic skill for a while. Now, with my Stone Fruit Jams Cooking Class waving at me from tomorrow, with a tonne of patient plums piled on the floor beside me, with another tonne of nectarines shedding their flavours into a syrupy sugar, with pate sablé ready to roll into pastry shells, butter to be rubbed into scones, rough puff to be filled with jam and fruit, steamed jam pudding to be tested and plum crumble slice to be made, I thought now was a good time to update my jam post.

Dates and times are finalised and I’m madly preparing recipes, sourcing ingredients and serving up endless meals of tofu and tempeh to my family (not to mention cherry jam) JUST so I can bring you the most honed and informed cooking classes I can. If you have any doubts that my earnestness might not pay off, perhaps you’ll take a look at some of the kind words I’ve been receiving from previous students (thank you, all of you- you’ve invigorated me!) And yes I’m blowing my own horn, yes I’m proud. I’ve worked really hard at these classes and your [...]

Finally, FINALLY, I’ve managed to plan two classes for early next year. Here they are- still at the wonderful Taste store. Now, you can’t book yet, as Taste staff are running like crazy just to keep up with all those last minute Christmas shoppers. But I promise to tell you just as soon as you can book. And if you want to register your interest now, I’ll let you know personally when you can call to book your place. Just email me on angela@thegoodsoup.com and I’ll add you to my cooking class update list.

Hi everyone, Just a quick note to remind you that my last cooking class of the year is on Wednesday 30th November. We’ll be cooking turkey, lots of it! I’ll show you how to separate the breast meat from a whole turkey (much cheaper than buying turkey breast by itself) and what to do with the remaining turkey. We’ll prepare the breast in a couple of different ways: by butterflying it and then rolling it with a filling and by poaching it, very slowly in a flavourful stock. We’ll also roast a whole turkey using some techniques that will ensure [...]

I’ve got a cold. This is not what excites me. It’s a clog-mire of wet sand on my brain. Stray grains seep out to scratch my eyeballs, but the bulk set like concrete in my sinuses, its weight making my teeth ache. What isn’t clogged is running, a constant stream of fluid departing my face through the left nostril. Not pretty, but oh so true. And much prettier on me, I must say, than Oliver, who can’t wipe his nose yet. I’ve never been in charge of wiping someone’s nose before. It’s not my favourite role. I’m not even very [...]